Summary: We will uphold Ms X’s complaint, as the Council delayed considering a complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to complete its stage three review panel without further delay. It will make a payment to Ms X to remedy the time and trouble its delay caused her.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I will call Ms X, complains about the actions of the Council’s children services team. Ms X asked the Council to investigate her complaint within the Children Act statutory complaints procedure but it delayed the stage two and has not arranged a stage three hearing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share the final decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the Ms X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I considered Ms X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.

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My assessment

The statutory complains procedure

7. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. The accompanying statutory guidance, Getting the Best from Complaints, explains councils’ responsibilities in more detail.
8. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
9. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two. At this stage of the procedure, councils appoint an investigator and an independent person who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. Councils have up to 13 weeks to complete stage two of the process from the date of request.
10. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel. The Council must hold the panel within 30 days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 days of the panel hearing.

What happened

11. Ms X made her initial complaint in August 2019. The Council replied in September 2019.
12. In March 2020, Ms X asked the Council in writing to progress the complaint to stage two of the process. The Council should have completed this stage no later than 13 weeks, but did not do so. Ms X contacted us in August 2020 as she had not had a reply. In November 2020, the Council agreed to carry out a stage two investigation. It completed this in April 2021.
13. The Council’s final stage two letter told Ms X she could request a stage three review panel or contact us. She complained to us in May 2021. We dealt with the complaint as premature because she could request a stage three. The Council has since requested that we investigate rather than the review panel be held. The Council say Ms X wants to introduce new evidence which it believes the review panel cannot consider. The statutory complaints guidance does not say new information or evidence cannot be provided to a review panel. The Council has also said it was acting in good faith in giving Ms X the option of complaining to us rather than a stage three review panel.

Analysis

14. The stage two process was delayed. This is fault. Ms X has not received answers to the questions she raised. She has not had the independent oversight at stage three of the statutory complaints’ procedure. She has also been caused frustration by the delay.

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Agreed action

15. Within 1 month of the date of my final decision, the Council will:
• Hold a stage three review panel and write to Ms X with the outcome.
• Pay Ms X £300 to remedy the time and trouble she has gone to pursuing the complaint and to reflect the overall delays in the Council dealing with her complaint.

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Final decision

16. I uphold this complaint with a finding of fault causing an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman